Quantum fluctuations of the center-of-mass and relative parameters of NLS breathers

Abstract

We study quantum fluctuations of macroscopic parameters of an NLS breathers, i.e., the second-order soliton solution of the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation. Uncertainty relations for the parameters are derived and compared to similar relations for fundamental solitons. We compare two models for the state of the quantum field of fluctuations surrounding the classical field of the Bose-Einstein condensate: a conventionally used, computationally convenient "white noise", and a correlated noise which assumes that the breather has been created from a fundamental soliton, by means of the application of the factor-of-four quench of the nonlinearity strength. Theoretical methods used in the work are well suited for a large number of particles, $N$. We thus confirm the possibility of experimental observation of macroscopic quantum fluctuations, which is suggested by an extrapolation to large $N$ of recently reported low-$N$ Bethe-ansatz results [Phys. Rev. Lett. 119 220401 (2017)].